We keep on hearing terms like,
Left-wing and Right-wing or Leftist or Rightist or Socialist or Communist;
however only few of us do understand appropriately what they actually mean. How do both, Left and Right, political
ideology -a political party’s fundamental ideas and principles on which it
aspires to function its machinery to rule a state- emerge into political
spectrum and lay down the basis for the two colliding ideologies?
The
Origin
The story is rather intriguing. Back
in 1789, when the French were undergoing an absolute crisis: Almost two decades
of poor harvests, drought, food shortage, and, adding to the misery, the imposition of inhuman
hike in taxes as France had fallen into debt for her active
financial-involvement, for means they needed for militarization, and King Louis
XVI’s extravagant spending, a rumor began to go round of an impending
military coup. Dejected and furious, a mob stormed the
Bastile fortress, a prison, where protesters were locked up, in the quest
of gunpowder and weapons on July 14, 1789, considered the commencement of the
French revolution.
The aftermath of the attack, The National
Assembly gathered with a principal goal: writing a new constitution. One of the
main issues of the
debate was how much power should the king have. Eventually,
those who believed the king should have an absolute veto sat on the right of
the president of the assembly, and others who believed he should not, sat on
the left.
So, those sat on the right
were later called the right, and
other, the left.
The Political Spectrum
Let us understand what both the
political ideologies mean through political spectrum
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| The Political Spectrum Img Source: Wikipedia |
The
center position at this spectrum shows those who strike a fine balance
between both the ideologies and favor none of the both specifically, called centrist.
From center, we are to measure where a
political party or institution tends to - Left or Right. From the time of their
inception to today in the 21st century, the definitions and ideals of
both have changed a great deal in due course of time. Most of the parties
across the world cannot be termed as Left or Right parties; they are better defined
in the measurement of their tendency to these ideologies- Left-leaning and Right-leaning.
In spectrum, those on center-left are
called liberals, with their policies
or ideology being a bit Left-leaning.
In the same way, those on far-left are
called socialist.
Those on the furthest-left are called radicals or communists, with extremely left views.
In spectrum, those on center-right are
considered conservatives, with their
policies or ideology being a bit right-leaning.
In the same way, those on far-right
are called libertarians.
Those on the furthest-right are called
fascists, with extremely right
views.
Left Ideology
As their beliefs revealed in the sitting order at the National Assembly back then, they firmly believe in progressive, revolutionary views. They want to implement revolutionary changes in society for the well-being of people. They are of the opinion that the government is meant to look after its people and provide them with all the possible means: free public education, healthcare and etc to lead them a healthy life. A good amount of emphasis is sought to be laid on individual rights, personal freedom and equality among citizens, however rich or poor they may be, by the left. The ideals and values set by the left are vast; no political party or group follows them in its entirety, but to a certain degree. We can classify them under the following category.
Liberalism, political
doctrine, says that every person living in society is entitled to certain
rights, and the government is to protect and ensure individual freedom as long as
it does not interfere with others’. Indian constitution provides fundamental
rights to its citizens under article 12 to 35 of the constitution in part III.
Socialism emphasizes
public control on properties to ensure equal distribution-in oppose to
capitalism which endorses a free market- among people. Socialists argue that
the concept of privatization or a free market emits benefits in few hands
rather than a mass audience; having earned wealth and power, they try to gain
dominance in society to expand their business, succumbing to their personal
luxury than a larger good. In simple words, considering today’s rapidly
changing world, socialists seek control over privatization where services are
directly attached to people like in petroleum, railways, education, etc.
Communism, sometimes
used interchangeably with socialism, can be termed as an advanced form of
socialism. However, there are some key differences between socialism and
communism. Unlike socialism which allows “private ownership” to a certain
extent, communism favors properties to be completely owned by the community, and
each person receives a portion from it based on their necessity. Communism does
not prevent, unlike socialism which searches for democratic means under the existing political system to attain their ambitions, a violent revolution
in which the workers rise up against the middle and upper classes is seen as an
inevitable part of achieving a pure communist state. China is the biggest
country in the world that has adopted communism as its medium to govern the
state. However, they have welcomed various changes to their system and allowed
privatization from 1997, making them economically-right wing and socially-left
wing.
Right Ideology
Of course, they also work for the well-being of society; like every established political ideology does. Unlike leftists, its followers value massively the rooted elements of society, tradition and culture; put above anything else emotions and duty towards nation, nationalism and patriotism; choose to stay out of people’s affair, as much as possible, endorsing the view that every person holds responsibility for his individualistic position in society. Conservative in nature, they demand an open market to extend everybody an equal opportunity run a business or an organization, and support privatization in major sectors to enhance efficiency and bring about competitiveness in market, thereby, benefitting the economy.
How much a person or party tends to
right-wing, can be measured on how far they go to the right axis, on a 2-D
political spectrum.
Conservatives
hold
a view that society not only comprises individuals but also diverse beliefs,
traditions and culture, and they are needed to be preserved along with the
actions for their welfare. In contrast to liberals, they believe culture, value
system, religious beliefs and rituals inherited from the past add a significant
value to the current shape of the moral structure of a community, thus, they are
not to be destroyed in the name of modernization. They are averse to the idea of
bringing about revolutionary changes in
the already established and stable –to a certain extent- institutions, various
thought process or religious beliefs prevailing in any community or society.
Libertarians
endorse
personal liberty of all dimensions, be it personal or be it economical. They
believe that people should have the liberty to live their life the way their
wish and government should stay out of people’s general affairs unless they
fail to maintain law and order, commit crimes or indulge in activities against
the nation’s interest. Thereby, the concept of the free market is supported under
this philosophy, in turn, extension of equal opportunities to all.
Fascists
promote nationalism
at any cost. Fascism as a political ideology seem to be a complex term to
define as fascists parties
and their movements differed significantly from one other; however they
share many characteristics in common: Extreme militaristic nationalism,
contempt for electoral democracy and aversion to personal liberty, etc. Fascism
is authoritarian, with dictatorial power, the forcible imposition of ideas and
rules being its major traits. Adolf Hitler in Germany and Benito Mussolini in
Italy were prominent fascist leaders.
Standpoint on key matters
Economic Policy
Liberals
believe in income equality among people, the imposition of taxes more on the
wealthier, strict regulations on business, government expenditure more on
infrastructure, while conservatives in free business with least possible restrictions,
lower taxes and government spending in a balanced manner.
Health Care
Liberals advocate that health care should be affordable to
everybody, and free to the underprivileged, the oppressed, While conservatives,
as they support the free-market, allow private sectors to function as they wish to.
Education
Liberals
endorse education to all irrespective of their capabilities to meet the
expenses that go with it. And, of course, support control on private
institutions to prevent rocketed-fees, whereas conservatives believe in public
education too, but with their firm promise to not interfere in private sectors
unless it circumvents or violets the law or system.
Immigration Policy
Liberals seem to choose an apathetic path to this. They neither
support it nor oppose it unequivocally; However, right-wing supporter demands
for a strict regulation to protect the well-fare of the localized population.
Environmental Policies
Liberals demand a well-drafted policy to
stop or reduce any activities prone to the loss in biodiversity, cause excessive
deforestation, or serve the reason for damage in the environment largely, even if these activities generate
employments for many. However, conservatives seem to draft rather soft rules
and regulations to gain economically and don’t interfere unless excessive
exploitation of any natural resource as mentioned by authorities.
Liberals support minority abortion and
same-sex marriage, and conservatives don’t get along with these ideas.
Case Studies
·
Left rule in
Bengal
West Bengal was governed by communists, CPI-M, for straight 34
years, 1977- 2011 before Mamta Banerji became CM of the state in 2011, and has
gone on to be re-elected since then. Let us asses briefly the rule on three major
fronts: Economic conditions, work done to alleviate the underprivileged or
social transformation and Infrastructure building.
In 1960, West Bengal had the highest per capita GDP of any
state in India. From 1980-81 to 1990-91, its per capita growth rate slumped to 2.3% and ranked 13 among all states in India. In 1980-81, West Bengal accounted for 7.2% of the country’s GDP at factor cost at current prices. Ten
years later, it went down to 6.1%. By 2000-01, its share of GDP went up a bit
to 6.3%. The ecosystem provided to industries was greatly conducive. Therefore,
many industries chose to shut their operations in Bengal, leading to a huge loss in
Employment in the state. Industrial development was ruined, hence, the economy
suffered huge losses during the regime. The share of West Bengal in the total
value of industrial output in India declined from 9.8% in 1980-81 to 5% in 1997-98.
The
biggest social reform, you may term, was brought about by the left front during
their rule was land reforms, called ‘Operation Barga’.
The plots were handed over to more than a million small farmers, which helped
the state increase agriculture share in the state’s GDP and farmers live in more
sustainability than before. The statistics from NSS suggests improvement in
West Bengal’s rank by 4 steps, from eleven to seven, in the course of 10 years,
from 1977-78 to 1987-88. They brought down the headcount of those living below the poverty line from 52.2% in 1977-78 to 24.7% in 2004-05, better than the average
of the whole India, which was at 27.5%. They have done reasonably well in
literacy- but not revolutionarily well.
In
1980-81, West Bengal’s index was 110.6, in State Level Performance under
Economic Reforms in India, in which the all-India figure is taken as 100; 10.6%
better than India’s average. It started going into a tailspin and reached 90.8%
in 1996-97. Excessive focus on social reforms and rigidity to have control over
business threw them under huge debt, leading to high inflation rates in the
state.
However,
In Kerala, where government at large is of socialist view, policies have been
implemented in a much healthier way. But, even inflation rates are high than
that of India’s average.
· Economic reforms by Narsimha Rao
In
1991, India has witnessed the unprecedented transformation in its economic policy
to accommodate rapid industrialization
and needs for globalization. Before 1991, India had adopted the socialism policy, like the soviet union, for the economy, making it difficult for foreign companies to
establish their business in India. Under the leadership of our 9th
prime minister, Narsimha Rao, India went on to open to the free market. For this, steps
like, the abolition of industrial
licensing, allowing foreign investment, reducing
the import duties encouragement to the private
sector and coexistence of the public sector
and private sector were taken by the government. The government did not shy away from taking as bold a
decision as devaluing the Indian currency to increase the export and to provide
the economy a prolonged-required boost. The model was also called the LPG model
of growth, which entailed Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization. The unprecedented
moves have resulted in a growth rate of
5–6 percent per annum since 1990. India’s GDP grew more than 9 times bigger
from around 31.7 crore USD in 1990 to about 2.8 trillion USD in 2020.
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| PV Narsimha Rao Img source: Wikipidea |
Most eminent economists across the World favor conservative’s
approach to the economy, which is free-market policy. Today, to strike a balance
between both the ideologies and to have the best of both worlds, a great number
of countries seem to adopt socially-left and economically-right policies to address the cries of the poor and
boost the economy at the same time, which would eventually provide more opportunities
and extend more benefits to every section of society.
I recommend you read all the points and decide which ideology
do you favor more, and also comment why?
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